DC 2010 Day 1

September 11, 2010

Back in September, Jeremy and I got to take a second trip to Washington DC. (Our last trip was last November in 2009. Check out our last adventure here, here, here, here, here, and here.) This year, Jeremy's school was a finalist for the Intel School of Distinction Award. Intel invited Jeremy and some of his coworkers out to Washington DC for a 3-day event surrounding the award proceedings. We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to see more sights than we got to see last time. We booked our flight and hotel so we could arrive a few days before the Intel itinerary began so we could have more time to see and do what we wanted. We arrived late September 10th and began our touring on September 11th.

Mount Vernon was our first destination on this trip. We chose to take public transportation and ended up on the metro and bus system for over 2 hours each way! The time travel was definitely worth it as we very much enjoyed touring the grounds and the new museum.

I was overwhelmed with the reverent feeling at all of the burial sites especially at the unmarked graves in the slaves' cemetery. A small monument was inscribed with "Faith, Hope, and Love" to honor those men and women who worked at Mt. Vernon.

Jeremy's favorite part of our Mt. Vernon tour was walking the forest path. He feels so at home and content in the woods.

We finished our visit to Mt. Vernon in the new museum. We saw many of Washington's old letters, clothing, weapons, and even his own dentures! Ew!

We finished up at Mt. Vernon and took our 2 1/2 hour ride back into the city. Once there, we made our way to Old Ebbitt Grill. It is a famous restaurant in Washington D.C. This eatery was the #1 recommended dining experience from everyone we asked. It is literally steps from the White House and many former presidents have eaten here. Jeremy chose the gnocchi dish while Jennifer went for the traditional fish and chips platter. Both entrees were delicious as you can see by the satisfied look on Jeremy's face.

Following our fine dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill we walked over to the White House. We noticed that the flag was at half mast, in honor of September 11th today. We also saw a guard perched on the roof!

We stayed only a short time at the White House and then hopped on the metro to ride out to Georgetown - a destination we'd never been before. We saw beautiful homes and hoards of people walking the streets of this swanky upscale historical neighborhood.
This picture doesn't do justice to the neighborhood. The homes were so beautiful with their colonial doors, brick work, wrought iron, and painted shutters. We've always wanted to have a house that has all of these characteristics. Maybe someday... but for now, we will be content to dream.

Day 1 of our trip ended back in the hotel room. Jeremy & Jennifer snuggled in front of the laptop watching an entire disc (4 episodes) of Alias - our latest obsession. We brought 3 Alias Netflix discs on this trip to occupy any down time and to watch on our flights. After that first night we knew we needed to pace ourselves or we'd finish off all those episodes before we left for home!